


Five Minutes

by TheaBloom



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Canon Universe, Dark Comedy, Family Drama, Flashbacks, Some innuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2020-05-16 05:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19311793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheaBloom/pseuds/TheaBloom
Summary: Moriarty goes to Sherrinford on the request of a prisoner.  Think of it as a little novelization of the scene.





	Five Minutes

**CHRISTMAS DAY**

**FIVE YEARS AGO**

**\----**

_I want to break free…_

_I want to break free…_

Jim Moriarty opened the cabin door and began climbing out of the helicopter, followed by two men decked in security detail.  White headphones dangled from his ears and he looked up at Sherrinford through his aviator sunglasses.  He stepped down onto the sand and took a step forward to throw his arms and head back to jam out to the music.

_I want to break free from your lies_

_You’re self-satisfied_

_I don’t need you…_

_I’ve got to break free…_

Raising his hand in the air like Freddie, he then jumped around to do the same thing, alternating hands this time.  He turned back around and rolled his shoulders back as if stretching, raising his arms up slowly.

_God knows…_

_God knows I want to break free…_

_I’ve fallen in-_

He took his headphones and tucked them into his jacket pocket.  The helicopter blades slowly spun to a stop as he walked toward the agent, smirking. 

The agent stood to attention, placing his hands in front of himself like a waiting butler.  “Mr. Moriarty- “

“Big G.”  Jim said, showing the sign of the horns.  “Big G means ‘governor.’  It’s street speak; I’m a bit down with the kids, ya know?  I’m relatable that way.”

The security detail in the grey beanie hats didn’t say anything.  Neither did the agent.

“You like my boys?” Jim peered over the shoulder of the guard flanking his right, tipping his sunglasses down.  “This one’s got more stamina but he’s less caring in the _afterglow_ …”

The agent nodded then motioned toward the walkway up.  “This way, please.”

The guards swarmed around Jim and his security detail, keeping them huddled in the middle.

He looked around with a smirk and pushed up his sunglasses with one finger.  He then leaned toward the guard still on his right.  “I should really introduce to this one friend of mine- she has everything you’ll like…”

—-

Jim stepped out of the elevator and began looking around as they walked to the meeting room.  The last time he was here, he had a burlap bag over his head and tossed into a cell with nothing but a two-way mirror and a fluorescent ceiling light.

“Smell all that insane criminality…”  He was stopped by a hand to his chest then sniffed the air.  “D’you have cannibals here?”

“Yes.”  The agent said.

“How many?”

“Three.”

Jim nodded.  “That’s good.  People leave their bodies to science.  I think cannibals would be so much more grateful.”

He tilted his head to the side and let out a whistle.  Almost immediately, the distant sounds of yelling and arguing filled the air.  The agents looked around and Jim smiled and let out a soft chuckle.  “Ah.”

He patted the security guard in front of him on the shoulder then walked down the stairs and entered the room, taking off his sunglasses.

Mycroft Holmes turned around to face him, his hands behind his back.  “Welcome back.”

Jim’s lip curled into a sneer for a second before he gave Mycroft a smile.  He spun his sunglasses in his hand then tucked them into his jacket pocket.  “Enjoying the seaside view?”  

Mycroft sat down in his chair then gestured toward the chair across the table with his hand.  He let out a sigh through his nose as Jim walked toward the nativity scene on the inn table underneath the security screens, whistling a tune.

“Ah, isn’t that sweet?” Jim picked up the baby Jesus figurine and rubbed its head.

Mycroft looked toward the seat across from him.  “Won’t you sit down?”

“I wrote my own version of the nativity when I was a child: ‘The Hungry Donkey.’  It was a bit gory, but if you’re gonna put a baby in a manager, you’re asking for trouble.”  Jim carefully dropped baby Jesus back in place in the nativity scene.

“You know what this place is, of course?”  Mycroft asked.

Jim turned toward him, rocking the lamb figurine back and forth on the table with his hand.  “Of course… so am I under arrest again?”

“You remain a person of interest but until you commit a verifiable crime, you are- I regret- at liberty.”

“Then why am I here?”

“You’re a Christmas present.”

“ _Oh_ … “Jim walked around Mycroft, spreading his arms out with a smile.  “How’d you want me?”

Mycroft ignored the comment and continued.  “There is in this facility a prisoner whose intellectual abilities are of occasional use to the British government.”

Jim stopped in front of the glass doors leading out to the balcony.  “What, for like really difficult sums, long division, that sort of thing?”

“She predicted the exact dates of the last three terrorist attacks on the British mainland after an hour on Twitter.   _That_ sort of thing.  In return, however, she requires _treats_.  Last year, it was a violin.”

“This year?”

“Five minutes unsupervised conversation- with _you_.”

Jim blinked rapidly. “ _Me_?”

He turned toward Mycroft and blinked more as if he was going to cry.  “ _With me_?” he asked again, putting his hand to his chest.

“She has noted your interest in the activities of my little brother.”

Jim walked toward the chair across from Mycroft.  “So, what has she got to do with Sherlock Holmes?”

He slowly sank down into his seat and rested his cheek in his open hand.  “Whatever you’re about to tell me, I already know it’s going to be… _awesome_!”

Mycroft glared at him then sighed, rubbing his bridge of his nose with his fingers.  He then nodded toward the agent in the room, who returned the nod and left.  

Moriarty kept smiling, never turning away.

“The woman you’re about to see is named Eurus.”

“’East Wind?’” Moriarty rolled his eyes.  “Bit obvious, isn’t it?”

“She happens to be very important to me and Sherlock, although he doesn’t know it.”

“Interesting… so _he_ doesn’t know that _she_ exists…”  Jim gestured toward the TV with his other hand then tilted his head down tauntingly.  “You seem very protective of your little Eurus…” He let out an exaggerated gasp.

If looks could kill, Mycroft would have been arrested for triple homicide.

“So…” Jim let out a sniff then sat back in his chair and smirked, quickly raising an eyebrow at the elder Holmes brother.  “… when do I get to meet this lucky lady?”

—

Eurus Holmes sat in the middle of her cell, her head down and hidden by her scraggly mane of dark brown hair. The green nightlights in her room cast a shadow on the floor in front of her. 

The elevator hissed as it opened.  The overhead lights were activated, casting a white glow over Eurus’ cell.

Jim slowly walked out, watching her look up at him.

She slowly stood up and both of them advanced toward each other, Jim completely ignoring the safety line outside the cell.

He spread his arms out a little bit then slapped them back down to his sides.  “I’m your Christmas present.”

They both advanced a little bit more.

Jim nodded and smiled, chewing the inside of his cheek for a moment.  “ _So what’s mine_?” he whispered.

Eurus gave a small smile as she looked up at the security camera in the corner of the ceiling.

In the meeting room, Mycroft let out a heavy sigh as the security feed went down, emitting static.

Eurus looked him up an down for a moment.  “Redbeard.”

Jim gave her a strange look for a second then gave her the tiniest smirk.

They stepped toward each other.  Three inches of glass saved them from touching each other.  Eurus’ eyes flickered as she looked him up and down for a second.

There was nothing there behind his eyes.  Large, lifeless dark brown eyes that stared holes into her.  She looked for a small, gleefully evil glimmer… a small crinkle in the crow’s feet… something.

Nothing.

Eurus’ eyes flickered as she looked away from his eyes and tried looking at his mouth.  She exhaled slowly as Jim tilted his head slightly for a second to look at her neck before making eye contact with her again.  An innocent yet mischievous head tilt to the side followed, eyelids lowered and his expression blank.

They slowly moved in front of each other, Jim taking the lead by leaning to the side.  Eurus followed his lead, keeping her eyes on his at first.  His expression stayed the same until both of their heads finished tracing an arc in the air. Her eyes became heavy-lidded and finally closed as their cheeks almost touched.

They were conjugal predators, greeting each other with slow, drawn-out movements, keeping their arms down. No noise was made save the barely audible breathing from both of them.  It was as if the barrier between them was non-existent, no three-inch glass that prevented the feeling of human warmth.

Moriarty closed his eyes and slowly brought his head back up, his lips as if kissing the ridge of her eyebrows.  Eurus’ head lolled around his shoulder as if she was resting her head on it.  They briefly made eye contact before she moved her neck back slightly.  If there were nothing between them, a soft line of fire would have been made up to the tip of her neck.

They finally opened their eyes and slowly moved their heads to look at each other once more.

“Y’know…” Jim said softly, that smirk returning to his face.  “…I could just play with you forever…”

Eurus didn’t say anything. She stared at him blankly as she slowly lowered herself down to sit on the floor in front of the glass, Jim closing his eyes and raising his chin slightly as she did so.

“Sit.”  She said, sitting Indian-style, her voice flat like a computer’s.

Moriarty looked back down on her with a smirk, opening his eyes, then sat down the same way she did.

“So you’re the East Wind that I’ve heard so much from your stellar big bro…” he declared, giving her a small look up and down before looking her dead in the eye.  “The all-knowing secretary…” he sucked in a breath through his teeth before leaning forward, propping his chin in his hand. “… I’m very impressed.”

“You want to know your present?”  she stated.

“And pray tell, what is… Redbeard exactly?”

“My little brother’s best friend.  That was his nickname.  I drowned him in a well because I was lonely.”

“How very sad…” Jim said with an interested yet fake gasp.  “Let me guess, it… traumatized the little boy so much that he… gave up his dreams of looting all the treasure and sailing the seven seas and decided to become our darling little ‘Net Tec’?”

“He has no idea that I did it.”  Eurus continued.

She was like a painting: never moving, never blinking, motionless, staring holes in anyone’s eyes.  A painting that saw anything and everything.

Jim’s eyes were considered dead because they looked unreal; someone must have painted the eyes too dark; you can’t see the pupils.  Carl Powers called them “doll eyes” and sometimes commented “you must have been born without eyes; they musta have taken some old geezer’s dead eyeballs and shoved them into your sorry sockets.”

The last time Jim had heard from Carl, the young swimmer’s sorry sockets were filled with pool water. Now that was what the kids called “karma” these days.

But upon hearing the lovely sentence that just rolled off of Eurus’ tongue, his barely visible pupils dilated in excitement.

“Interesting…”

“Do you like games?” Eurus asked, changing the subject.   “I can play one with you.  But you’ll have to follow the rules.”

“We only have three minutes left, sweetheart, so you’ll have to speedy things up.”  Jim said, motioning with his hand.

“You record some things for me so we can play with Sherlock later.”  Eurus explained, placing her hands on her kneecaps.  “But you musn’t tell him about me-“

“-that’ll ruin the surprise.”  Jim’s smirk turned into a smile although it didn’t reach his eyes.  “You clever girl; we should do a buddy cop thing together.”

Eurus gave Jim a rare smile, her eyes looking warmly at him.  “You’re very sweet…” she said almost teasingly, tilting her head slightly to the side.  “Do you plan to see Sherlock soon?”

“Isn’t in obvious? We’re best buds!”

Eurus’ eye twitched slightly.  She looked back up at the security camera as they both slowly stood back up.  

The camera turned back on.

“I’ll put it on your tab, then.”  Jim said, looking up at the camera.  He fixed his jacket then slowly stepped away from the glass.

Eurus did the same thing, her expression blank.  Her hair brushed her chin and she was ready to sit back down when she saw Jim stop at the door to look back at her.

Another smirk, followed by a wink in her direction.

Then, as quietly as he came, Jim Moriarty left.

—

_But life still goes on…_

_I can’t get used to living without, living without, living without you by my side_

_I don’t want to live alone, hey_

_God, got to make it on my own_


End file.
